Tips for Fruit and Veg Growing Newbie

chocolatelover93

Thank you so much everyone!

I have a compost bin but it is full from the people that used to live in the house and I pay £40 a year for a garden waste bin so I may empty the compost in there and start a fresh, not really sure what I need to do with a compost bin though so any tips would be great (I am a complete newbie haha)

I don't have a small fork yet but there is a shop near me that sells that sort of thing fairly cheap so will pop down there am hoping I can get one that my son would be able to use as well so he can "help" me.

We love runner beans and courgettes so will get some of them! We have a B&Q near us so I will pop in there and have a nose at what they have got.

Thank you again for all the help, I will keep you updated! Am so excited to start I think my son will love it too

fatbelly

Compost is compost - or should be. I'd be digging that old compost in if it looks OK

chocolatelover93

fatbelly - thank you I will have a look at it

Farway

chocolatelover93 wrote: »

I have a compost bin but it is full from the people that used to live in the house and I pay £40 a year for a garden waste bin so I may empty the compost in there and start a fresh, not really sure what I need to do with a compost bin though so any tips would be great (I am a complete newbie haha)


We love runner beans and courgettes so will get some of them! We have a B&Q near us so I will pop in there and have a nose at what they have got.

Noooo, keep the compost, once you've cleared a space for your intended runners/ courgettes fork your "free" compost in the soil, the beans will love it and the added humus / organic matter will help retain water, which will beans love

The empty compost bin, hang onto it, you can use it for things like uncooked veg waste from your kitchen, like cabbage leaves, spud peelings, apple cores etc, personally I would not add egg shells in, but jury is out on that, can attract rats

Maybe get you lad involved in collecting & adding the waste to the bin? Teach him recycling, into compost, then onto garden, then into tum

chocolatelover93

Farway wrote: »

Noooo, keep the compost, once you've cleared a space for your intended runners/ courgettes fork your "free" compost in the soil, the beans will love it and the added humus / organic matter will help retain water, which will beans love

The empty compost bin, hang onto it, you can use it for things like uncooked veg waste from your kitchen, like cabbage leaves, spud peelings, apple cores etc, personally I would not add egg shells in, but jury is out on that, can attract rats

Maybe get you lad involved in collecting & adding the waste to the bin? Teach him recycling, into compost, then onto garden, then into tum

Thank you! that is a really good idea and I am sure he would love to do that, will just have to make sure he doesn't get it out again lol.
Thanks for the heads up with the eggs won't be putting them in! All this will reduce my waste going to landfill too which is another aim for me in 2019
xx

Linda32

I put egg shells in but each to there own. Dead flowers, grass clippings, shredded paper, loo rolls, cardboard egg boxes. Not citrus it attracts slugs :eek:

Definitely, use the compost, then start again putting material in the bin for this time next year.

Farway

Linda32 wrote: »

I put egg shells in but each to there own. Dead flowers, grass clippings, shredded paper, loo rolls, cardboard egg boxes. Not citrus it attracts slugs :eek:

Definitely, use the compost, then start again putting material in the bin for this time next year.

Each to their own indeed Linda, I put citrus in, slugs are part of the natural decomposition cycle, along with worms

There is a thought that citrus may make things over acidic, seems OK to me and the worms in my bin, but then I don't have lots of citrus in there

Linda32

I don't mind the worms and as you say, they are indeed an important part of the system and shows an healthy compost. But slugs are horrid